The Foreign Service Journal, June 2007

J U N E 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 99 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT drive. “Driving is a huge responsi- bility,” she says. “I probably had more of a phobia about driving than most people. But it saddens me that people think they can drink and drive. And young drivers (up until about 25) tend to be cocky, and not as responsible.” Some Foreign Service parents are also happy that their children are going to be behind the wheel at an older age. “They can wait until they live in the good old USA, and worry about it then,” says Foreign Service spouse Mari O’Connor. “Four of our nephews have had terrible car accidents, all before the age of 20. I’m happy that our girls will not be so young when they begin driving.” Learning (Legally) Before College It’s up to parents and their kids to figure out if (and when) children should learn how to drive. In some cases, teenagers might be able to get a driver’s license abroad and later get a U.S. one, but the legal driving age varies from country to country. In much of Europe, for example, the minimum age for driving a car is 18, and getting a license can be time- consuming and expensive. If parents who are posted over- seas want their teenagers to get licenses in the U.S., it’s often possi- ble for teens to learn how to drive legally when they are back in the United States on home leave. The first step is taking driver’s education online. After this, kids can practice driving with someone who has a license whenever they are in the United States. One Foreign Service youth who is taking driver’s education online is 16-year-old Arie Pittman, who lives in Beijing: “It’s fast, and I did it in one day. And it goes at your own pace.” Pittman would like to have a license before heading to college in a year and a half, and plans to take lessons during home leave. “I’d rather wait until I have the time, instead of driving illegally or in a dangerous city like Beijing.” DriversEd.com (https://driversed. com/) offers comprehensive online It’s up to parents and their kids to figure out if (and when) children should learn how to drive.